A mid-tower PC case that gives you a lot for the low price

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Including features normally associated with expensive chassis on sub-£150 cases is Corsair's goal with the Carbide series. The newly launched Corsair Carbide 400R is the little brother of the more expensive Corsair Carbide 500R, released at the same time.

Although Corsair is a company usually associated with memory and PSUs, since branching out to PC cases it had built a solid reputation – one it hopes to build upon with the Corsair Carbide 400R.

This mid-sized tower is aimed at PC enthusiasts who are keen on installing the best hardware money can buy, but is priced at an affordable level, unlike the more expensive Corsair Obsidian 700D chassis.

Price is the big selling point of the Carbide 400R, and Corsair promises a lot for just £80. But does the company deliver on its promises, or have too many corners been cut when designing the Corsair Carbide 400R in pursuit of an attractive price point?

Unlike some of its more ostentatious rivals, the Corsair Carbide 400R sports a relatively straight-laced design. Next to more expensive models it might look rather plain, but there are options to 'pimp out' the chassis if understated isn't your style, such as a lighting toggle switch at the top of the case for lighting kits.

But what's really important is what's inside the case – or, we should say, what can be inside the case.

The 400R has been carefully designed to provide a generous amount of internal volume, and it puts that volume to good use. There's room for eight PCI-E cards of up to 316mm in length, and even room for a full 240mm radiator for compatibility with the Hydro Series H100 Liquid CPU Cooler and modular water cooling systems.